Remember When
by FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom
Summary: Riza's going through her old stuff when Hayate finds an old binder full of photos. As she looks through them, she remembers things from her childhood. Each picture in here has its own story to tell... Childhood Rants. !Title Pic by Isaa-Chan!
1. Chapter 1: Meeting the Trio

**I don't own FMA. Enjoy. :3**

_One_

Riza shuffled through her belongings in the almost-forgotten boxes. Her storage place was getting overly-crowded, so she figured it was time to throw out things she no longer needed. Hayate frolicked through the multiple boxes, snuffling around in the contents of several. She threw out several of the boxes contents, including old clothes she rarely wore anymore. A flash of faded blue caught her eye.

Riza blinked and picked up the object. A faded blue bracelet woven in with thin threads of purple. A wave of nostalgia flooded through her. She frowned. Why couldn't she place where she got this? Riza shrugged and slid the bracelet on over her wrist.

Hayate nudged her arm, a worn brown binder clamped in his jaws. His tail wagged as he held up his prize to Riza. Hawkeye scratched behind the dog's ears, taking the binder in her other hand. A photo slid out of the bottom, the blank side facing toward her. Riza picked the picture up, feeling the sides that were worn with age. When she turned it over to look at the image, a small smile came to her lips.

In the picture was a small girl with blonde hair, pulled back in a braid. Two younger boys, both with black hair, were on either side of her. One of the boys looked annoyed, the other grinning brightly, his green eyes shimmering through his glasses. The girl shrank down, frowning in between them.

Riza sat back, looking at the picture.

"I remember this…" she said to no one. Hayate rolled over on his back, his tail wagging.

Memories…

She was seven then. She used to walk home from school by herself. Her mother had died while giving birth to her and her father always isolated himself from her. The kids at school didn't mock her, but school was still never fun for her. They ignored her. Sometimes being ignored was worse than anything.

Especially for her.

She walked away from the several groups of kids, who were gossiping. A new school. Wasn't any better than the last.

"HEY!" someone called. She kept walking. It was directed toward someone else. An eight year old ran past her, spinning on heel and skidding to turn to look at her. He panted heavily, a grin on his face.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded, straightening himself.

"Home." She said simply.

"Seriously?" he gasped "That's dumb! It's after school! Time to hang out with friends!"

"ROY!" another boy yelled, running up to him. "Don't run off like that! Oh, hi!" he hyperactively shook the girl's hand "My name's Maes Hughes! This here is my friend, Roy Harnet!"

"What's your name?" Roy asked, hands behind his head as he balanced on one foot.

"Riza Hawkeye." Riza said, snatching her hand back from Maes. Maes and Roy exchanged glances.

"So, Riza, why don't you hang out with your friends?" Roy asked.

"I have none." So simple a fact, she was amazed by the two boy's reactions. Roy snorted and took her hand.

"Then we'll be your friends!" he grinned "Come on, Riza!"

"Yeah!" Maes grinned.

"Okay." Riza said simply. Roy's expression melted into one of annoyance.

"Do you never smile?" he muttered, regaining his smile he continued "We need to wait for my older sister, all right? And then we can go to the docks!"

"…The docks?" Riza blinked.

"Yeah, the docks." Maes grinned "In the forest, there's this old pier that stretches out into a lake! We call it the docks."

"Okay." Riza nodded. The trio waited under the shade of a tree, Maes climbing on top of the rock and declaring he is the ruler of all. Roy grinned mischievously and pushed Maes of the rock, resulting in the two boys having a fist fight.

Riza blinked, not quite sure what she should do. As she was thinking maybe she should stop them, an older girl with black hair and dark eyes walked forward, grabbed the two boys by their collars, and hauled them both to their feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she snorted. Roy and Maes paled. Maes cringed while Roy frantically tried to explain what had happened.

"Is this your sister?" Riza blinked, tilting her head to the side. The older girl looked at her and dropped the stammering Roy and the trembling Maes.

"Yes. And you are?" She asked.

"That's our new friend, Riza!" Roy declared, getting back to his feet. Maes feigned death and flopped over on his back, his tongue hanging out comically.

"Riza?" she blinked "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What's your name?" Riza asked.

The older girl smiled "My name is Izumi Harnet." She dragged Roy over by his ear "Now, Roy. Apologize."

"Why? What did I do?" Roy whined, swatting at Izumi's hand.

"You must've made her feel uncomfortable with your random fist fight." Izumi growled "So apologize."

"Why do _I_ have to apologize?" Roy growled back, nose to nose with his older sister. "Why not Maes?"

"Because he isn't my brother." Izumi hissed.

"I wasn't bothered." Riza stated.

Izumi and Roy looked at Riza. The older Harnet sighed and released Roy.

"Hey, Izumi!" Maes chirped, back on his feet. "Take a picture for me, okay?"

"Sure thing." Izumi smiled.

Roy leaned in closer to Riza and spoke in a whisper.

"Thing you need to know about Maes, he likes pictures. A lot."

Riza blinked, opening her mouth to reply before Maes came to her other side, grinning. She honestly felt very uncomfortable about this. Roy groaned and glared at Maes. And Izumi snapped a picture.

**Yay. :D**

**Things I believe I should point out:**

**1: Yes, I know Izumi and Roy aren't actually siblings. But I managed to convince myself they are.**

**2: Izumi's last name is Harnet before she married Sig.**

**3: Roy was adopted. At least, that's what I got. If he isn't, then he is now.**

**Thank you for reading. I look forward to your input.**


	2. Chapter 2: Carvings

**FMA isn't mine.**

_Two_

Riza sat cross-legged, scratching Hayate behind his ear as she looked through the album. So many different pictures, so many different stories. She sighed, if Hughes knew she still had this, he'd freak out.

One picture she caught herself looking at for a long amount of time. It was of Roy when he was eight, focusing on a carving of a wolf. He most likely didn't even notice whoever took the picture. She smiled, wondering if the colonel still had this hobby. He used to carve things all the time, mainly animals. Sometimes flowers and feathers.

Hawkeye suddenly remembered something and went back into the boxes, shuffling around. With a triumphant smile, she pulled out a carving of a flying swan. One wing was chipped, and the gentle point of the beak was dulled. She traced her fingers over it, remembering.

* * *

It was about a week after Riza met the three. And oddly enough, she found herself ignoring most other people. After school, she winded up being dragged off to the docks with Roy, Izumi, and Maes. Roy would usually come up with something to do, that would always be twisted into something… _unique,_ by Maes.

"So how about we go fishing today?" Roy suggested.

"Sure." Izumi shrugged. Riza nodded, re-doing her braid as she did after school every day. Maes stayed silent for a moment. Roy groaned, knowing what was going to happen as soon as he opened his mouth.

"All right! Fishing!" the boy grinned "Let's get some branches and sharpen the edges, and STAB them!" he laughed.

"How are we going to sharpen them?" Riza asked.

"Simple, we use Roy's carving knife." Maes said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, his expression clearly saying so. Izumi smacked him aside the head.

"She didn't know that." She scolded.

"And there's no way in hell I'll let you use my carving knife to make spears." Roy growled. Riza tilted her head to the side.

"You carve?" she blinked.

"Yeah." He grinned. "It's something my Dad taught me." The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife. He fiddled with the latch on the sheath and showed off the blade. The finely-polished wooden handle almost reflected the water. "He gave me this when I started carving." He grinned.

"His first carving he tried to do with a butter knife." Izumi snickered "It was quite something."

"It was like, a demented turtle?" Maes blinked.

"It was an alligator." Roy snorted.

"A _demented_ alligator." Maes and Izumi smirked. Riza blinked as Roy fumed, his face turning red as he yelled at them for gaining up on him.

"Why was it demented?" she asked.

"Because I stunk at carving." Roy said. With a grin he added "I've gotten a lot better though!"

"How so?" Riza asked. Roy frowned questioningly, trying to find out how to explain. "You know, I'll just show you." He said finally, shifting through pieces of discarded wood at the edge of the pier.

"While he's doing that, let's make some spears!" Maes declared. Izumi smacked him again.

"You can get hurt using one of those." She snorted.

"You hurt me more…" the boy whined "How come you're not smacking Roy?"

"Because he wouldn't notice." The older girl said. "He started carving." Roy sat at the edge of the dock, his feet trailing above the water as he worked on the wood.

"Can he hear us?" Riza blinked.

"Probably not." Maes said "When he starts on a carving, it's almost impossible to get his attention."

"It is?" She blinked. Riza turned to where Roy sat, peeling away the excess wood and etching in small details. Every now and again, his tongue would stick out of the corner of his mouth. "What is he carving?"

"Can be anything." Maes said.

"Maybe a swan." Izumi suggested.

"What makes you think that?" the boy questioned. The older girl pointed out to the water. A sleek white bird swam gracefully across, its neck in a gentle arc.

"It's pretty." Riza commented. Roy paused for a moment, and then continued carving with more energy.

"So what should we do?" Riza asked.

"How about we play Cowboys?" Maes suggested, bouncing up and down "I love that game!"

"I'm aware." Izumi sighed. "Riza, do you want to play?" The small girl nodded her head and looked around. She walked up to a large tree and strained for one of the lower branches. When she grabbed it, she broke it off and held it in two hands.

"It's a gun?" she suggested.

"Awesome!" Maes grinned. He ran to the side and quickly swiped up a branch, holding it in one hand "I have one too!" he pointed to Izumi "You be the Cattle Rustler!"

"So why am I the villain?" Izumi demanded.

"Because you're the biggest?" Riza offered. Izumi blinked and started chuckling.

"All right then." She grinned wickedly "All your cows are mine."

The three of them started running around in the way small children do. Riza's responses a bit hesitant, as she often looked over to Roy. The boy barely moved, with the exception of his hands. The swan was gone now, but Roy worked with just as much energy as before.

Finally, when Maes ran out of energy, he collapsed to the ground. Izumi panted heavily as she sat next to him. Riza dropped and crossed her legs with one swift movement.

"Who won?" she asked.

Izumi and Maes exchanged glances.

"Well, I guess the cows did." Maes grinned "I mean, they managed to get away from both groups who wanted to eat them!"

Riza blinked.

"FINISHED!" Roy declared suddenly, jumping to his feet. He sheathed his knife and put it back in his pocket, and darted over to the other three. He stumbled a bit and held out his hands to Riza, a carving of the swan resting in his palms. "I heard you say you thought the swan was pretty, Riza!" he grinned "So I want you to have it!"

Riza blinked and hesitantly took the wooden bird from him.

"…Thank you." She said, not quite knowing what else to say. "It's pretty."

"Again, do you never smile?" Roy snorted. His eyes widened suddenly "Um…When did it get so dark?"

Silence.

Maes and Izumi blurted out laughing.

"What?" Roy demanded. Riza curled her hands around the bird, holding it close to her heart.

**Awwww…. Kawaii-No-Jutsu? **

**Review?**


	3. Chapter 3: The Turning Festival

**I don't own FMA**

_Three_

Riza flipped through the pages of the album, sitting on the bench outside of headquarters. It was during her lunch break and Hayate sniffed around her feet.

"Hey Riza!" A certain Maes chirped, leaning over her shoulder "What are you looking at?"

"Just some old pictures." Riza replied. She smiled fondly as she pointed at one "Remember this?"

Maes squinted his eyes and grinned. "You still have that old thing? It's been ages!"

"Yes. It does seem awhile ago…" Riza smiled fondly.

"We should show it to Roy." Maes suggested abruptly "There a lot of things in here that will either embarrass him or make him happy." Riza rolled her eyes and shut the binder.

"Yes, but now I have to go back to work." She dismissed herself, getting to her feet.

"You know, speaking of pictures-"

"I don't have time to look at pictures of your daughter right now, Hughes. Maybe later."

"Fine." Maes muttered, over-exaggerating a pouting expression. He laughed and walked back to the building. Riza vacantly flipped through the pages of the binder.

"Hey Lieutenant, you dropped this." Roy said. Riza stopped and turned on heel, nodding.

"I apologize Sir, I didn't see you there." Roy waved her apology off and straightened himself, looking at the picture that was held between his middle and index finger. Was it just her imagination or did he blush slightly?

"I'll be keeping this one, Lieutenant." He said simply, sliding the picture in his pocket. Riza simply nodded, as she believed Roy should have at least one of them.

"I don't understand why you still have those." Roy snorted as they walked down the hall. At Riza's silence, he shrugged vacantly "I suppose you choose what you keep or don't keep."

Riza nodded vacantly and fingered through the pages. Mustang, unable to restrain his curiosity, looked over her shoulder at the pictures. Hawkeye pointed to one, of a young Maes posing dramatically on top of a picnic table, a kerchief tied around his head. Roy looked both annoyed and frustrated as he tried to push him off the table. Izumi was frozen in a sigh and little Riza fiddled with a piece of cloth around her neck.

"Remember this, Sir?" she asked. Roy looked at it for a moment before a slight smile spread across his lips.

"Ah yes, the first Turning Festival we went to all together, right?" Roy smirked. The two exchanged a joyful look at the memory of it.

_Memories_

"Turning Festival?" Riza blinked, her hair back in its braid "What's that?"

"Wow, do you know ANYTHING?" Maes snorted, getting smacked on the back of his head by an aggravated Izumi.

"It's not her fault she never lived in the south before, you moron!" she snapped. Roy groaned and slid away from his older sister.

"It's a holiday we have down here." He explained to Riza "It celebrates Summer turning into Fall."

"Why would you celebrate that?" Riza blinked "Fall is when it gets cold and you can't grow anything…"

"Well, I guess maybe it's because that's when you harvest the crops?" Roy shrugged "I really don't understand it either. But it's really fun!"

"Fun?" she questioned.

"Yeah!" Maes chirped, barging in between them "There are a lot of games, and stores, and food!"

"Also the only time when Dad makes his Cinnamon Apple Pie." Roy drooled slightly at that statement. Maes joined him in the longing for the pie.

"…Um…Is it good?" Riza blinked.

"The best!" Roy and Maes grinned.

"It is really good." Izumi smiled.

Riza tilted her head. "…Do you think that I could have some….?"

"Of course!" Maes and Roy chimed in unison. Maes put his arm around Riza's shoulders.

"Riza, Mr. Harnet makes the BEST PIES EVER!" he swooned "If I ever met a girl who could make pies better than him, I'd marry her in a heartbeat."

Roy sighed. "There he goes again, fantasizing about his dream-baker-girl-wife."

Maes stormed up to him. "I'm not fantasizing! I'll meet someone like that." he blushed a bit. "And her baking skills are not the only thing I think of. Someone who's nice and generous and thinks I'm funny…"

Izumi snorted. "Yeah, sure. And Roy will get married to a super model."

Roy glowered at his older sister. "I'm eight, I don't care about that kind of thing yet."

Maes leaned on him and grinned mischievously. "Maybe you'll meet a nice girl at the festival?"

Roy responded by smacking Maes in the face. The two boys glared at each other for a minute before Maes kneed Roy in the stomach. This resulted in the two boys getting into another fist fight on the dusty ground.

Izumi sighed and Riza looked on at the skirmish.

"Do you two not like each other?" she asked abruptly. Roy and Maes quit fighting almost instantly.

"Of course we like each other." Maes said. Roy blinked.

"Why'd you ask that?"

Riza flushed and turned away. "W-well… I'm sorry, but you two seem to fight so much… I was…. I was just wondering…."

Roy and Maes shared a glance of concern. The younger Harnet got up from the ground and dusted himself off. He walked over to the small girl and put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"Don't be sorry. I guess it does seem like we fight a lot." Roy laughed. "But he's my best friend."

Riza didn't look at him and frowned a bit more.

The small boy blinked again. He smiled kindly. "You want to be my best friend too?"

Riza bolted up straight and look genuinely surprised. She nodded, her face still lacking of any joy.

"YAY! Friends!" Maes laughed, clapping both of them on the shoulders. "Now we need to teach Riza how to smile!"

Izumi snickered while Roy glared at Maes, vivid annoyance in his expression as Maes spun around in circles. Riza sighed.

* * *

As night fell at the early time it does during fall, the town seemed to wake up. People hung up lanterns and vendors sold their goods. The group sat at a picnic table, Maes chattering on about everything he could think of. Izumi smiled as she drank her hot chocolate.

"You know, I've never met your father before." Riza blinked. "Is he nice?"

"Nicest guy I know." Roy smiled. "Dad's awesome." Maes nodded in agreement.

"How about your mother?" the girl asked.

Roy stiffened, the color draining from his face. He looked away and fiddled with the edge of the table cloth. "Uh… She's okay…" his vice was small and timid. Izumi gritted her teeth and looked away.

Maes changed the subject by hyperly declaring. "HI MR. HARNET!" Riza frowned and kept her eyes on Roy as he got up and looked around. It was obvious that he hastily made himself forget the topic of his mother, which got Riza curious. Didn't he like his mother…?

A man who looked pretty similar to Roy walked up to them. Obviously he was older, and his dark eyes shone with a cheerfulness that was contagious. The man had a beginning of a beard and he placed the tin of a sweet-smelling pie on the table.

"Oh, you must be Riza." The man smiled at her. He laughed. "Roy wouldn't stop talking about you for the past few weeks."

Roy blushed and turned away. "Dad…."

"Oh, did I embarrass you, Squirt?" Roy's father blinked. "Sorry about that." he then proceeded to ruffle Roy's hair. Roy groaned, annoyance showing on his red face.

"Mr. Harnet is the only one who can call Roy 'short' and not get a scolding about it." Maes whispered in Riza's ear. Riza blinked and noted to herself not to mention Roy's height any time soon.

"Hey Dad." Izumi smiled.

"Heya, Izumi." Mr. Harnet grinned, taking his attention away from Roy.

"Did you bring pie?" Maes commented rudely.

Mr. Harnet snickered a bit, paying no mind to Maes' lack of manners. "Of course. But I think it's only fair Riza gets the first slice. Roy nodded in agreement while his friend slouched in his chair, over-exaggerating a pouting face.

"Here you go." Mr. Harnet said, putting a piece of pie on Riza's place.

The small girl looked at the piece of pie and poked it with a fork. She then timidly took a piece and bit into it. Her wide amber eyes blinked and she took another forkful.

"I guess that means she likes it." Roy laughed.

"NOW LET'S DIG IN!" Maes yelled, shoveling a forkful into his mouth. Roy thanked his father and took a slice, biting into the pie.

"Take time to taste it, you idiots." Izumi spat.

Mr. Harnet laughed. "I'm not making another one, so you should probably savor it."

After they were all done with their pie, Maes handed Mr. Harnet a camera.

"Can you take a picture of us?" he chirped.

"Why not?" Roy's father grinned. He held the camera up to his face. "look, I'm a photographer."

Maes snickered and climbed on top of the table, tying a hankerchief around his head. "Come on you guys, get in the picture."

Riza sighed a bit, finding it odd she was getting used to the random photo shoots.

Mr. Harnet took a picture.

**I haven't updated in forever again. Darn it. Well, here's one. Please review.**


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